The News Blog of Comics Culture
A must read and a must-read for masochists top our linkage today, both returning to topics that were much on the minds of anyone in comics about 30 years ago — oldies but goodies.
First and most importantly, library professor Carol Tilley has been going through Dr. Fredric Wertham’s notes and found out that he was, to use a technical term, full of hooey.
Superman, co-created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, first appeared in Action Comics #1 in June 1938, published by Detective Comics Inc, a fore-runner of National Periodical Publications and DC Comics. Virtually overnight it became a huge seller, and is running to this day, with uninterrupted publication for well over seventy years. A vast amount has been written over the years on the history of Superman, and by people substantially more qualified than I, but one claim, that Superman was based on the character of Hugo Danner, from Philip Wylie’s novel Gladiator, (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1930), has some relevance to the larger story of Marvelman and, although I decided that it might be too far back to start this series of articles, if you’re interested in reading what I have to say about it, you should go read this article, and then meet us back here.
If you read only one think piece on comics by a great cartoonist today, you should read The Literaries by Eddie Campbell. The piece spins off of the current discussion on the place of EC comics which I mentioned the other day. Campbell’s response is specifically to Ng Suat Tong’s declaration that EC comics were mostly well-drawn pulp.
Preliminary voting is in on this year’s Eisner Award Hall of Fame and the judges have selected Mort Meskin and Spain Rodriguez for automatic inclusion.
In the tradition of advocacy cartooning through the ages, the NY-based political comics anthology World War 3 reminds us that the late Ed Koch, former mayor of New York, wasn’t always a beloved avuncular figure. Contemporary cartoons from Eric Drooker, Steve Brodner and Tom Keough take on Kach’s handling of the homeless, affordable housing and police brutality.
In case you missed last night’s PBS documentary on Superheroes, you can watch it above—or at this link if the embed isn’t working. The program includes Wizard World all-star festival of folks like Lou Ferrigno, Burt Ward, Adam West and Lynda Carter talking about playing superheroes. They are all veteran charmers, and when we have a spare 53 minutes, we plan on watching the whole thing. A supporting webpage has background and stills—such as the above one of Julie Newmar as Catwoman—and some extra videos.
Art comix publisher PictureBox has announced a new line: Ten Cent Manga, which will be curated by manga exert Ryan Holmberg (you can read some of his insightful manga writing at The Comics Journal.) We’re told the line will include “famous titles by superstars, as well as single-artist volumes and anthologies of comics by forgotten geniuses.”
Research for Sean Howe’s Marvel Comics: The Untold Story has dug up a lot of long-forgotten dirt, but here’s a particularly sad one:Marvel selling art by Romita, Sinott, Kane, Sal Buscema and more to a Winnipeg art gallery for $1000:
And oh how yore they are. Alan Light, founder of The Buyer’s Guide/Comics Buyer’s Guide is one of the most organized flickr users we’ve ever encountered and he has a couple of sets from the history of TBG/CBG that those reminiscing about the now cancelled publication might enjoy.
In a brief, statement, publisher F+W announced the closing of CBG, the Comics Buyer’s Guide today. The magazine’s 42 year run will end with issue #1699, one shy of the farewell #1700 that the collectors it appealed to would have liked.
The cause of death was the usual suspects:
Tweet Via Midtown Comics, A recent letter from Steve Ditko. A recent letter from Steve Ditko to one of our customers. He asked Steve what he remembered about designing Spidey’s costume. #ditko #spiderman (at Midtown Comics) 50 years is a long time…and Stan Lee doesn’t remember anything either. The intensely private Ditko has long refused [...]
TweetQuite a few remembrances of underground pioneer Spain Rodriguez, including this round-up of reactions from his peers at TCJ. Here’s Gary Panter’s imagined history: SPAIN looked to be exploring edgy scenes and choosing to do bad things and hang out with violent sociopathic folk in his comics and past at least–people that did BAAAAADD things!!! [...]
Tweet I am very sad to report that an email has been sent by Ron Turner: It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing this morning of Spain Rodriguez. He passed at home with his daughter and wife at his bedside at about 7 this morning. He had been fighting cancer [...]
Via Millarworld — in case you have been sleeping and missed Grant Morrison’s thoughts on Alan Moore. We don’t know the credits for this, but it’s pretty awesome.
Johanna Draper Carlson finds a SF book from 24 years ago that predicted the kind of soul-stealing succubus that many fear wit a narrative involving a SF convention:
by Laura Sneddon–Over the last few weeks, my good friend Pádraig Ó Méalóid has been writing a series of articles about Alan Moore and Superfolks, which became an edgeways look at the long running friction between Moore and fellow writer, Grant Morrison. While Moore has previously spoken out about his thoughts on Morrison in various interviews, Morrison has generally kept quiet on the issue. There have been occasional barbs of course, and plenty of praise, but very little on the actual facts of the matter.
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